Pokémon Super Contest

A Pokémon Super Contest (Japanese: ポケモンスーパーコンテストPokémon Super Contest) is an expanded format of the Pokémon Contests for the Generation IVgames, specifically in Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum. In it, Pokémon are rated on their appearance and performance, rather than strength. They are different from the previous generation's competitions in that not only do they have more rounds, but rounds from the earlier games have been altered. They come in four rankings in the same five categories as Generation III: Cool, Beauty, Cute, Smart, and Tough.

Contents

Competitions

Visual Competition

The Visual Competition is where players dress up their Pokémon depending on a theme. The Visual Competition score consists of two parts: the condition portion and the dress-up portion. The score from the Visual Competition is the total number of hearts given from both portions.

Dance Competition

In the next round, all four Pokémon dance on the stage. Competitors control their Pokémon with four buttons: Left, Right, Front, and Jump. The dancer in front chooses up to three steps in the Normal Rank and Great RankDP, and four in the Great RankPt, Ultra Rank and Master Rank, matching the beat as closely as possible. Then the backup dancers try to match the lead dancer's moves. Each Pokémon will lead for two measures (a measure is the time it takes for the lead dancer to make its moves and the backup dancers to follow), and each measure will contain 16 beats for both halves in the Normal and Great Ranks and 24 beats in the other ranks.

At the bottom of the top screen, a simple music staff shows the steps with a bouncing Jigglypuff on top of it keeping the beat.

A Pokémon earns 1 point for each step judged as "Good", and 2 points for each step judged as "Excellent". A step judged as a "Miss" does not score. The maximum score for the Dance Competition is thus 48 points in Contests with 3 steps, and 64 points in Contests with 4 steps.

Acting Competition

This is the equivalent of the second round of Pokémon Contests in Generation III. Pokémon perform moves for one of the three Contest Judges, Jordan, Dexter, or Keira, to earn Appeal Points. At the end of each round, judges award extra points to the Pokémon: 3 points if only one Pokémon performed to them, 2 points each if two Pokémon performed to them, 1 point apiece if three Pokémon performed to them, and none if all Pokémon performed to them. This competition has four rounds, rather than the five rounds found in Generation III. The Pokémon, contrary to the Hoenn Contests, get their position by their scoring in reverse. The best scorer goes last and the worst scorer goes first. Performing a Contest-specific move (i.e. a Tough move in a Tough Contest) to any judge causes their Voltage to go up by 1, however, an incompatible move (such as a Smart move in a Cool Contest) causes the Voltage to go down by 1. The Pokémon who fills the Voltage meter will receive a bonus from the judge they performed to: Keira and Jordan give +5, Dexter (as the head judge) gives +8.

Unlike in Generation III, the most a Pokémon can use any move in succession is two times. Most moves can only be used once, while specific moves, such as Outrage or Arm Thrust, may be used twice in a row. If a Pokémon only has one move, it may not enter a Super Contest (including Visual and Dance practice sessions). This makes it impossible for Unown and Ditto to legitimately have any Super Contest Ribbons.

The number of points earned from the Acting Competition is 10 times the number of hearts received.

Results

Winning a Super Contest

To compute a Pokémon's final score, the scores from each competition are first scaled such that the Pokémon with the best score in the competition is given 33 points, and the other Pokémon are given scores proportional to this score. This score is then scaled again such that the best score is given 64 points, and the other Pokémon are given scores proportional to this score. The final score of a Pokémon is the sum of the Pokémon's scores from each of the competitions, and the Pokémon with the highest final score wins. If there is a tie for highest score, a winner among the tied players is randomly chosen.

Awards

The winning Pokémon will receive a Ribbon for the Contest condition and rank. They will also receive a special Accessory the first time the Contest is completed successfully.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

During the Diamond & Pearl chapter, Platinum accidentally entered a Super Contest in Hearthome City. After performing terribly at the Dance Competition, she vowed to win the next day's Contest in her family's name. She managed to win a Normal Rank Super Contest with her Prinplup, despite the sabotage on the part of other competitors.

The Super Contests follow the games closely, sharing the same competition formula with three segments. In addition, in this canon the Coordinators dance along with their Pokémon in the Dance Competition.

In the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure! manga

Fairly early during their journey, Hareta, Mitsumi and Jun participated in Super Contests. Hareta and Jun took part in a Normal Rank Contest, while Mitsumi took part in Master Rank Contest.

The manga's Contests follows the formula established in the games closely, having the same three segments.

Trivia

Pokémon that have Ribbons earned in Pokémon Contests in Generation III do not have any advantage when entering a Super Contest; they must go through all four ranks no matter what.

Pokémon back sprites are often flipped in the Acting Competition, but there are exceptions for noticeably asymmetrical Pokémon, such as Togekiss and Budew.

In spite of this, Weezing's sprite is flipped, despite its obviously asymmetrical appearance.

There appears to be a formal or semi-formal dress code for Super Contest entrants—in the Generation IV games, players are given a tuxedo or dress (dependent on gender) by Johanna prior to their debut, and anime characters usually dress up for Sinnoh Pokémon Contests (though Ash did not do so in the Jubilife Contest).

In Pokémon Platinum, the Pokémon keep their sprite from Diamond and Pearl during the Visual and Dance Competitions.

The main reason for this is to provide compatibility for multiplayer Super Contests, as the winner of the most recent Super Contest would have a photo of itself in its dressed-up state displayed in front of the reception desks in the Contest Hall.